UNITED TD NATIONS United Nations Distr. Conference GENERAL on Trade and TD/B/LDC/AC.1/14 Development 23 June 1999 Original: ENGLISH TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD Meeting of Governmental Experts from Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Representatives of Donor Countries and Financial and Development Institutions New York, 24-26 August 1999 POLICIES AND ACTIONS TAKEN BY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES , AND BY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO IMPROVE TRANSIT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS Note by the UNCTAD secretariat The lack of territorial access to the sea, aggravated by remoteness and isolation from world markets and by the prohibitive transport costs associated with conditions of inadequate infrastructure, imbalance of trade, inefficient transport operations, poor utilization of assets and weak managerial, procedural, regulatory and institutional systems, poses serious constraints on the trade and economic development of land-locked developing countries. The General Assembly in its resolution 52/183 appealed to all States, international organizations and financial and development institutions to implement, as a matter of urgency and priority, the specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries. The Secretary-General of UNCTAD addressed a letter to landlocked and transit developing countries, donor countries and the relevant international organizations requesting them to provide information on the policies and actions that they are taking or envisage taking with a view to improve transit transport systems. 30 replies received from 4 donor countries, 8 landlocked developing countries and 3 transit developing countries and 15 international organization are summarized in the note. TD/B/LDC/AC.1/14 Page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Introduction ........................................................ 1-5 I. Summaries of replies received from Governments .................... 6-34 A. Donor countries .......................................... 6-11 Austria ................................................. 6 Italy ..................................................... 7 Japan .................................................... 8-9 Sweden .................................................. 10-11 B. Landlocked developing countries .......................... 12-29 Bolivia ................................................... 12-13 Ethiopia .................................................. 14 Kazakhstan ............................................... 15-16 The Lao People’s Democratic Republic .......................... 17 Mongolia ................................................. 18-20 Nepal .................................................... 21 Paraguay ................................................. 22-25 Zimbabwe ................................................ 26-29 C. Transit developing countries ................................. 30-34 India .................................................... 30-32 Thailand ................................................. 33 Turkey ................................................... 34 II. Summaries of replies received from international organizations ......... 35-72 III. Conclusion ................................................... 73-80 TD/B/LDC/AC.1/14 Page 3 Introduction 1. The General Assembly, in paragraph 11 of its resolution 52/183, requested the Secretary- General of the United Nations to convene, in 1999, a meeting of governmental experts from landlocked and transit developing countries and representatives of donor countries and financial and development institutions, including relevant regional and subregional economic organizations and commissions, to review progress in the development of transit systems, including sectoral aspects, as well as transit transportation costs, with a view to exploring the possibility of formulating necessary action-oriented measures. 2. In paragraph 4 of the above mentioned resolution, the General Assembly called upon both the landlocked developing countries and their transit neighbours to implement measures to strengthen further their cooperative and collaborative efforts in dealing with transit issues, inter alia, by improving their transit transport infrastructure facilities and bilateral and subregional agreements to govern transit transport operations, developing joint ventures in the area of transit transport, and strengthening institutions and human resources dealing with transit transport. 3. Furthermore, in paragraph 5 of the same resolution, the General Assembly appealed to all States, international organizations and financial institutions to implement, as a matter of urgency and priority, the specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries agreed in the resolutions and declarations adopted by the General Assembly and the outcomes of recent major United Nations conferences relevant to landlocked developing countries, as well as in the Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation between Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and the Donor Community. 4. In paragraph 13, the General Assembly urged the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), inter alia, to keep under constant review the evolution of transit transport infrastructure facilities, institutions and services, to monitor the implementation of agreed measures, including by means of a case study as necessary, to collaborate in all relevant initiatives, including those of the private sector and non-governmental organizations, and to serve as a focal point for cross-regional issues of landlocked developing countries. 5. As part of the implementation of the above provisions of the resolution, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD addressed a letter to landlocked and transit developing countries, donor countries and the relevant international organizations involved in transit traffic and trade, requesting them to provide information on the policies and actions that they are taking or that they envisage taking with a view to improving transit transport systems. The 30 replies received from four donor countries, eight landlocked developing countries, three transit developing countries and 15 international organizations are summarized below. TD/B/LDC/AC.1/14 Page 4 I. Summaries of replies received from governments A. Donor countries Austria 6. Austria acknowledges that landlocked developing countries, in particular those in Africa, face acute transit transport problems which greatly hamper their external trade performance, and has been active in providing both financial and technical assistance to these countries. In 1998, Austria, in its capacity as holder of the Presidency of the European Union, participated in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - European Union transport meeting, which adopted specific measures to implement effectively the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology. Since 1991 Austria has provided ATS 490 million schillings (about US$ 48.5 million) to Zambia-Tanzania Railways (TAZARA), whose performance is vital to the success of Zambia’s external trade. Assistance in support of regional cooperation and integration includes the upgrading of the Transkalahari highway linking Botswana and Namibia, the Zimbabwe-Malawi corridor through Mozambique and the northern corridor which links Uganda to the sea port of Mombasa in Kenya. Italy 7. Italy recognizes the importance of developing efficient transport systems to improve external trade performance and revenue generation. It is currently co-financing, with the World Bank and the Government of Eritrea, a project to rehabilitate Eritrea’s two major ports, Massaua and Assab, at an estimated cost of US$ 57.6 million. Italy’s contribution to this project will be US$ 21 million, the World Bank’s contribution will be US$ 30.3 million and Eritrea will finance the remainder. In 1997, at the start of the project, US$ 4.1 million was disbursed, and it was estimated that US$ 16.9 would have been allocated to this project by the end of 1998. Japan 8. Japan recognizes the importance of adequately addressing the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries, and has continued to provide financial and technical assistance to landlocked and transit developing countries to improve their transport systems. Japan has provided official development assistance (ODA) in the form of grant aid to develop efficient transport systems in the following landlocked and transit developing countries: the Central African Republic, for road construction; Zambia and Zimbabwe, for the construction of a bridge between the two countries; in Malawi, for the construction of a bridge; in Mozambique, for dredging equipment to improve Beira port which handles transit transport for Malawi and Zimbabwe; in Nepal, for road construction; and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, for the renovation of the international airport and reconstruction of a number of bridges. 9. The Government of Japan has also provided loans to finance transport projects in the following landlocked and transit developing countries: Kyrgyzstan, for the modernization of TD/B/LDC/AC.1/14 Page 5 Bishkek-Manas international airport and improvements to the Bishkek-Osh road; Uzbekistan, to improve railway passenger transport and upgrade three local airports; Kazakhstan, to develop railway passenger transport capacity, build the Irtysh river bridge, and rebuild Astana airport; Turkmenistan, for the modernization of railway transport; Mongolia, to improve railway